Hello everyone! SO I'm replacing my 60 year old oil' furnace with a Lochinvar Noble NKC199, for my "Tri-level" or split-level home, around 1300 square feet.
The question is: What is the benefit for something like a Navien NCB "water tube" combi vs a Navien NFC/Lochinvar Noble "Fire tube" boiler.
Not a brand-show down but really looking for the benefits from one type of heat-exchanger to another.
-= Scott
Anyways, I noticed there are two main types of condensing boilers. Fire tubes and water tubes. Most of the literature I have read on the topic refer to large commercial boilers. It been much harder to find literature on pros and cons of fire vs water tube for smaller residential boilers (plus most residential boilers don’t even even bother telling what type they are). I noticed that Rinnai units are water tubes while most everyone else is fire tube. The biggest con of Rinnai unit is the low turndown ratio compare to fire tubes (lochivar, navein, etc (3-5:1 vs 10:1).
I guess what are the pros and cons of water tube vs fire tube in a residential setting?
